Cutting tool



April 12, 1949.

W. E. HARRINGTON CUTTING TOOL 2 sheets-sheet 1 Fi1ed Jan.' 22, 1945 April 12, 1949 w. E. HARRINGTON 2,467,030

I CUTTING Too'L Filed Jan. 2,2, 1945 l 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Apr. 12, 1949 ED s T-ArE-Qs PAT; ic

GUTTING TQOL VllillianrlJ lllarrington, eaumont, Tex.; Application January 22, 1945, Serial No. 573,984'

4:. (2l-aime 1 The present invention relates 'broadly to. cut,- ting/.tools and more specifically to such tools for cutting slots in tubular members such as. well screens.

In. myA Patent No. 1,994,344 dated March 12, 1935:, and: the reissue thereof No. 20,648, dated Eebruary. l, 1938-, there disclosed a well screen embodyingl a. formation. of slots. ofI suchl character and design that liquid` entering therein has. impartedl to it; a swirling. or whirlpool movement which facilitates the operation of the screen andthe ascent oi. the liquid within thewell pipe.

The,l present. inventionhas been designed primarily. for. use in. themanufacture of the; Well screeny of., the, above patents, and particularly fortheiormation of the slots therein, although it isltobe, ullitj-Jrsto-odl that its use. is not limited) to tirisitypel oi. article.

It; is, therefore, an important object of.V the inventionlto provide a cutting tool adapted-to-,be

pfesiti'onedwithin a well screen or,v similar. tubular member for:v cutting,y slots therein.

4`Another obiectof the invention is to provide acuttingtool for wellscreens or the likehavinga series of cutter elements mounted for rotation on alshaft. Withmeansi or urging ythe cutter. elements into cutting position relative to the well screen,

A, further object orf.. theinvention is to provide @putting tool of the, above character wherein the cutter members are mounted for oscillatory movementA as well as rotary movement, oscillation of cutter` being accomplished after rotation has been impartedjthereto for urging said cutters into cuttingy position relative to the well screen.

The above and otherfobjects of the invention in part' b e obvious and will beV hereinafter more. fully pointed out.-

In the drawings,

Eiglurelis avew partly in longitudinal section ofia cutting tool embodying the features of' the present invention.

A Figure 2..is. a transverse sectional Viewv taken substantially on line Z-ZorFigure 1.

Figure 3 is an end View of thetool.`

V-iaurehisi @inertial sectional. ,vieyroi @neiform of #well f. Screen after iti hasy been slotted by` the renommer F a-,SectonalNien.takensubstautialv @prima 01E :iall1ef1--.

Figure. .6 sapartial--sectional view-:oli adiEeLent farm. of,x well. screenJ slotted byv means of; the impreved cutting toni.

Figurefitisaisectional ,view .taken substantially cnzlineil-.Jzofi Figures;v Referring.tostheidrawingsefor armorerdetailed 2. description thereof, theA new and. improved'. cutting toolis. generally designated.: by the` reference numeral 8 and comprises an. elongated tubular member or housingsffor housing theelements of the cutting tool. Extending. longitudinally within the housing. 9 there is a. shaft Ill; on which;` is mounted;inspaced'rel'ation a series of 'cutter.= elements. generallyV designated` by the reference numeral I I, which cutter elements wlllbeherein.- after. more fully described.

Also, carried within thetubular member Stand adaptedlfor rotation therein is asecond shaft I2; saidv shaft; supporting al series.- oij triangularly shaped bearing members I3, It and' |53. These members each` carry' roller bearings I within which. the shaft I Iltis :journaled the endv II f of. the shaft Illlbeing-locked on the member I3pby means of the. nut I8.. As. will hereinafter, appear, the members I3, lltandlsare adaptedto be oscillated forfprojecting thev shaft Iland its cutters'.l II tof ward the slots or windows I9 formed in spaced relation in the: housingv 9; 'The shaft` I2;- rotates insupporting members. 2.0, 2IY and-.22:which are rivetedor: otherwise secured-'to the housing` S as indicatedat 2-3fin Figurelz of the drawings,v while thebearingmembers I3, I4 and I5,are each bie furcated as, indicated;atp2ll4 in Figure. 1 ofthe drawingsfor connectionwiththe supports .2., 211 and22. The. sha-ity I2 extends through said sup;- ports and the bifurcated ends of the, membersI I3?, Illand I5. In Figure 1.of1the drawings this form orconnectionfis shown. relative ito the member I3., but itis to bey understood that each of the sup;- ports and members areiso related. The end. 25 of the shaft lI 2fissecured -in position ,on the mem,- ber I3 bymeans ofrthe nut 26,.,

Ther cutting elements I; I.` are. splined f. by means 2l to the shaft Il] for rotation therewith and are positioneolvbetweeny eachpair; of members I3;` I4 and I5. The cuttingv elements comprise indiel vid-ual circular-cutters: 28 having, saw teeth 29 formed on the periphery, thereof and separated-bymeans of the Vrshapedcutters 3B.r The cutters 30;.serve not only to, maintainy the cutters 23y in spaced relation butarealso adapted to cutorform that portion of the slotindicated at 3l in the well screenv sl'iovvn'y in. Figure 4 of thev drawings; Likewise the cutters 28and the cutters 35 may be.. designed-'so as to cut slotsof the. form and shape shown in ,Figure 6 of. the drawings. thermore. these cutters .may be .designed to cut slotsofxvarying formsand shapes. It is-y to be understood thatthe cutting members. are. posi-1 tionedon the shaft.Y I0 adjacent the Windows. I9 sonas to be. projected-i through saidwindows,l by

means to be hereinafter described, for cutting the slots in the well screen. It is also to be understood that any number of series of 4cutting elements and bearing members are to be positioned throughout the housing 9 within the meaning of the present invention.

Mounted within the housing 9 and spaced from the supports 20, 2| and 22 is a second series of supports 32, 33 and 34' riveted or otherwise secured to the housing as indicated at 35 in Figure 2 of the drawings. These supports carry a shaft 36 which extends throughout the housing 9, being disposed at an angle relative to the shafts I and I2. The shaft 36 carries cams 31 adjacent each bearing member I3, I4 and I5. Said cams are held in contact with said members and adapted to be swung thereagainst for oscillating said members on the shaft I2, to project the cutting elements II through the windows I9 of the housing 9. As is to be understood, the shaft 36 is capable of rotation within its supports and in accordance with the present invention the means for rotating the shaft comprises a lever 38 keyed thereto as indicated at 39. Upward movement of the lever in the direction of the arrow 40 will rotate the shaft, causing the cams 31 to be forced against the bearing members I3, I4 and I5 to swing said members and the cutting elements outwardly toward the windows I9.

Any means may be provided for driving the shaft I0, one means being shown in Figure 1 of the drawing which includes a gear 4I keyed to the shaft I2, and a second gear 42 keyed to the shaft I9, said gears being in mesh. The shaft I2 is driven from a suitable source of power through the pulley 43 held in bearingrelation thereon as indicated at 44. As is to be understood, as the shaft I2 is rotated the meshing of the gears 4I and 42 will rotate the shaft I 0 within the bearings I6, carrying with it the cutting elements Il.

The housing 9 is adapted to be inserted within a section of a well screen for forming the slots usually provided therein and in order to position the well screen on the housing 9, there is provided a series of eccentric plates 4'5, said plates adapted to 'be manually slipped over the housing 9 and are preferably positioned on opposite sides of the windows I 9 as shown in Figure l of the drawings. Different sized plates 45 are to be used with different sized well screens. In other words, the outer diameter of the plates 45 is equal to the inner diameter of the well screen to be slotted by means of the cutting tool. Thus, the one cutting 'tool will be capable of slotting different sized well screens. The plates 45 are removably held on the housing 9 by means of countersunk cap screws 46.

In the use of the device and when desiring to form slots in a well screen of the type shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawing, which well screen in the fabrication thereof, is formed with inwardly extending ribs 41 in which the slots are to be cut, the plates 45 are first positioned on the housing 9. These plates will be of a size to accommodate the well screen which is positioned over the plates so as to bring one of the ribs 41 in alinement with the housing windows I9. Rotation will then be imparted to the shaft IO, after which the lever 38 will be moved in the direction of the arrow 40 causing the members I3, I4' and I5, through the cams 31, to oscillate on the shaft I2 for urging the cutters 28 through the windows` I9 and into cutting engagement with the well screen ribs 41. The saw teeth 29 of the cutting members 28 4will 4 form the slots 48 and by continuing the upward movement of the lever 40, the V-shaped cutters will be brought into engagement to form the enlargement of the slot 48 indicated at 3|. The cutting elements are then withdrawn from the windows I9 and the Well screen rotated to bring the adjacent rib of the well screen, for example, the rib 49, into position to be slotted and the operation repeated. This rotation of the well screen relative to the housing 9 after each slotting operation is repeated until the ribs 49 of the entire circumference of the well screen has been slotted.

Formation of the slots in the well screen illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 is substantially the same as that above described. In Figures 6 and '1, the well screen is shown as being of complete cylindrical contour, the ribs 41 and 48 being eliminated therefrom. However, the ycutters 28 and 30 are brought into cutting engagement with the well screen to form the type of slot illustrated, and the well screen is rotated on the plates 45 in the manner previously described to form the slots 50. It may be preferred in slotting well screens such as a rib type screen as shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings to rotate the housing 9 including the plates 45 relative to the well screen in the operation of the device. In such an event, the cutters would first be withdrawn from the slots I9 in the manner previously described but the slotting operation will be a continuous operation in that the housing 9 including the plates would be rotated a complete revolution slotting each rib of a well screen such as that shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings or the like before the cutting elements are retracted or withdrawn from their normal extended cutting position through the windows I9 of the tubular housing 9, in other words, the cutting elements would slot by sawing through one rib and proceed to the next in extended position so as to cut slots of uniform width and length in each rib, thus, one complete revolution of said housing 9 and plates 45 would slot each rib in well screens having internal ribs by a continuous operation of the cutting tool, of fcourse the well screen could be rotated one revolution and the housing remain stationary and produce the same result.

From the above description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that there has been provided a cutting tool adapted to be positioned within a tubular member such as a well screen for cutting slots therein with a minimum amount of time and effort. The cutting tool is relatively simple in construction and easy to operate, and is capable of cutting slots in well screens or the like of practically any diameter.

It is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details and construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A cutting tool of the character described for cutting slots in tubular members, comprising a housing, a shaft rotatable in said housing, cutting elements on said shaft, said housing having windows formed therein adjacent said cutting elements, means for rmounting said shaft for rotary and oscillatory movement, said means comprising triangular shaped bearing members pivotally secured in spaced relation within rsaid housing, and cam means pivotally mounted With-l in said housing adaptedttoengagesaid bearing members for moving said shaft to radially move the cutting elements through said windows.

2. A cutting tool of the character described for cutting slots in tubular members, comprising a tubular housing, supporting members mounted in spaced relation Within said housing, a shaft carried by said members, triangular shaped bearing members pivotally mounted in spaced relation on said shaft, a second shaft rotatable in said bearing members, cutting elements xed to said second shaft for rotation therewith, said housing having spaced windows formed therein, said cutting elements being positioned on said second shaft adjacent said windows, a third shaft mounted within said housing, and cam means operable by said third shaft for engagement with said bearing members to radially move the cutting elements through said windows.

3. A device for cutting slots in tubular members comprising a tubular housing having spaced openings formed therein over which is positioned the tubular member to be cut, supporting members mounted in spaced relation within said housing, a shaft carried by said members, bearing members pivotally mounted in spaced relation on said shaft, a second shaft rotatable in said bearing members, cutting elements fixed to said second shaft for rotation therewith, said cutting elements being located on said second shaft in spaced relation with said openings and normally retracted therefrom, and means for moving said second shaft to radially move said cutting elements through said openings whereby said cutting elements are brought into cutting engagement with the tubular member.

4. A device for cutting slots in tubular members comprising a tubular housing having spaced openings formed therein over which is positioned the tubular member to be cut, supporting members mounted in spaced relation within said housing, a shaft carried by said members, triangular shaped bearing members pivotally mounted in spaced relation on said shaft, a second shaft rotatable in said bearing members, cutting elements xed to said second shaft for rotation therewith, said cutting elements being located on said second shaft in spaced relation with said openings and normally retracted therefrom, a third shaft mounted within said housing, and

'cam means operable by said third shaft for engagement with said bearing members to radially move said cutting elements through said openings into cutting engagement with the tubular member.

WILLIAM E. HARRINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

